In my experience, this is what I have noticed:

Make sure the realtor you choose is familiar with the area you want to buy a house. Many specialize in certain areas and can tell you about the schools, specific neighborhood, etc. If they actually live in the area you want to buy in, even better!

Also you may already know this, but there is a HUGE difference between being pre-qualified and pre-approved. Many folks think they are pre-approved, but they are only pre-qualified. Pre-qualified means that a lender may have merely asked for basic financial information without requiring proof of income, etc. Pre-approved means a lender already has all documentation verified and needed. In other words, pre-approved means that the lender is willing to loan you up to a specific amount according to certain terms.

If you're a home seller and you have equal 2 offers in front of you (one coming from someone who is pre-qualified and one from someone who is pre-approved), you will take the pre-approved offer. This is because the pre-qualified person's lender may decide to back out if they cannot verify the person's income.

In the competitive Bay Area market, make sure you're pre-approved. Most lenders don't like to do this because they have to invest time and money checking you out.

 

Getting a realtor is the way to go. You don't have to pay them to buy a house and they can give you a list of everything in the area you are looking for that is for sale. You can also tell them exactly what you want. If you ever need any help just let me know!

 

Having just bought a house and sold my condo recently, I have some recent experiences with the whole home-buying thing. Here are a few points to consider:

1) SELLER pays the agent's commission, NOT the buyer, so as a buyer, you might as well use an agent. Buyer's agent and seller's agent share the commission from the seller's final sale price, which is usually 6%. As a seller, if you can negotiate the commission rate, especially if you are using the same agent to sell your home AND buy another one, or you stand to sell at a substantial amount. With the market the way it is, agents are willing to negotiate.

2) Buying or selling, use a realtor that is very familiar with the area, has an easy-going, friendly, confident personality (IOW, not a jerkoff trying to shill you), and is willing to work long hours for you as a BUYER. Make sure the agent is experienced. You don't want a wet-behind-the-ears agent trying to make his first buck representing you, because in the Bay Area real estate business, experience counts.

3) Use a mortgage broker. They can get you better rates by shopping around for you, if you don't want to look at rates and talk to lenders yourself. Most will be able to give you good, solid advice on the best mortgage plans for your particular needs, since mortgages are their specialty. Brokers see all the rates available, and can even get you credits and coupons to reduce your costs.

4) When buying, give your agent your specific requirements for what you are looking for in a house, and then see what kind of listings s/he gets for you. If they don't fit with what you are looking for, then you may want to consider changing agents. You want an agent that will work for YOU, and will look out for YOUR interests. You can tell when an agent is only out for the sale by how they treat you and your interests. If an agent is willing to do a lot of research to get you listings that fit your specific requirements, and even goes out of his/her way to give you other listings that may meet your needs but fall outside of your specified requirements, then you want to work with that agent. If an agent doesn't return your calls promptly, doesn't keep you in the loop, or doesn't communicate with you as often as you want, change agents.

5) There is nothing wrong with family/friend referrals. If you are a friend of someone the agent knows or is related to (and likes ), chances are they will treat you better. By the same token, if the agent ISN'T treating you well, feel free to complain to the person who referred you to the agent, and feel free to change agents, as mentioned above. CAVEAT EMPTOR.

6) Private sales are a pain in the ***, but you get all the money if you are selling. If you know what you are doing, and can handle the entire transaction (title company, title insurance, home insurance, financial requirements, taxes, etc), then feel free to do it. If not, get an agent. Agent's "just fill out paperwork," but they make sure the paperwork is 100% correct, so you don't get nailed by something that could cost you more money later.

7) If you are a first-time buyer, and an agent is not willing to walk you through the entire transaction, from start to finish, holding your hand the entire way, don't work with that agent. There are a myriad number of things that you have to do in order to make the whole transaction work, things like:

home inspection
mildew/pest inspection
title company
escrow
mortgage and PMI
contracting work (landscape, general contracting, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc)
home association fees (for condos, townhouses, or subdivisions)

An agent is supposed to make the entire process painless and easy. If s/he isn't doing that, get yourself one that does.

8) Make sure you have enough money for 20% down, if you can manage it. Not paying PMI saves you a lot of money. Primary Mortgage Insurance doesn't insure you, it insures the lender. Lenders REQUIRE you to pay PMI if you don't put down 20%, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn't go away when you get to that 20%. Lenders force you to refinance in order to get rid of the PMI. Sucks, doesn't it? One strategy that works (and if you talk to a mortgage broker, ask about this) is to get two loans, one for the main mortgage, and one for the 20% down. This way, you are paying 20% down, so you don't pay PMI, and you are also paying a regular mortage. Again, this is where talking to a mortgage broker REALLY helps, since they can tell you, based on your application and financial situation, if this is a viable option.

9) Finally, buying a house has TREMENDOUS tax consequences. Talk to an accountant or tax professional, and see if there is anything you can do to take full advantage of any tax laws that favor you, before and after the sale.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

shadowcat

 

Matt

Realtors are like lawyers! They take the hassle out and can also be the otherway around and work againts you. Who will file and check all the endless paperwork? yes they do ...

It is like applying for a green card or filing for US citizenship.lol..

To do it yourself sucks big time, same as buying a house..too much stuff to read and running around yulk's...

Sit back and spend some money on a realtor and just find a home and "do not compromise" it has to be the one you really like or suffer for a long time, check the neighbors knock on their doors and last thing is check with the local police dept. to see if there has been a crime at the house (burglaries or like did someone die or what).

Nice to be a home owner man, good job

gino

]www.gb-motorsports.com
www.mpjperformance.com

 

I called 4 realtors when I got serious about buying a home, 2 of which were family referrals. 1 never called me back and I interviewed the other 3. I went with the one who I felt listened to me the best. All three were very familiar with the areas in which I was looking. I highly recommend talking to at least two agents. Remember, you are the customer and in the bay area, these folks stand to make a pretty penny from your business.